[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2013)]
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2013)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2012, 2013 (last updated January 2013)
This organ is believed to have been built originally by William Myers King around 1922 for his residence at Indooroopilly.1 Whitehouse Bros repaired old pipes and supplied parts (including 'secondhand wood stops') for Mr King in 1922-23, and they were engaged to tune the organ from 1932 until at least 1940.2
The organ built by W. Myers King, c.1922,
for his residence at Indooroopilly
[Photograph from Family & Teleradio (11 September 1941), p. 59]
W. Myers King was Managing Director of King and King Ltd, music retailers of Queen Street, Brisbane. Born in Victoria, he arrived in Brisbane in 1886, having earlier been secretary of the Ballarat Musical Union. Soon after arriving in Brisbane he is reported to have conducted a choir of 200 voices, and was prominent in the musical life of the city from that time onwards. By 1941 he was described as having been an honorary church organist for 46 years. The organ he installed in his home contained 600 speaking pipes.3 Some of this information also appeared in a report of 1928, which included the statement that 'the instrument is a perfect piece of work, and Mr King has received many congratulations on his craftsmanship.'14 W. Myers King died at the age of 86 at his residence in Foxton Street, Indooroopilly, on 12 November 1942.5
William Myers King playing a Hammond electronic organ
[Photograph from Family & Teleradio (11 September 1941), p. 59]
Apart from the organ he built for his home, Mr King was also reported (in an article published in 1941) to have personally 'supervised the salvaging of the instrument from the wrecked ship "Maheno" some years earlier'. The report states that he had been especially interested in the instrument, having travelled from Wellington to Sydney on the steamer, and having repaired and played the organ for services aboard ship.6 The "Maheno" was wrecked on Fraser Island in 1935, and this was therefore not the organ that Mr King built for his residence around 1922.
After his death, the organ from King's Indooroopilly residence was given in his memory by his family to the Presbytrerian Church, Indooroopilly,7 where it was installed by Whitehouse Bros in May 1943 at a cost of £96.8 The original specification was as follows:
| GREAT Open Diapason Stopped Diapason Dulciana Claribel Flute Principal Fifteenth SWELL Open Diapason Lieblich Gedackt Salicional Flute d'Amour Gemshorn PEDAL Bourdon COUPLERS Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great |
8 8 8 4 4 2 8 8 8 8 4 16 |
[gvd bass] [Ten. C] [gvd bass] [Ten. C] |
Mechanical action
Pedalboard: radiating & concave
Balanced swell pedal.9
Bernie Brohan's description of the organ also noted that 'the tone of the instrument is very sweet, but the organ lacks power .... the Full Organ is more dainty than commanding. There are dummy showpipes above the console and the lowest ten pipes of the Open Diapason are placed in two towers of five pipes each on each side of the console.'10
Following removal from the Presbyterian Church, Indooroopilly, in September 1967, parts of the organ were incorporated into this residence organ built by Ray Smith in the present location. Ray Smith, a cabinet maker by trade, worked from 1956 onwards on a contract basis for the Brisbane organ builder, H.W. Jarrott, building most of Jarrott's consoles over a period of some forty years, 1960-2000.11
Console and bench made by Ray Smith of Queensland Maple
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2013)]
The instrument was completed in November 1971, including a new console, soundboards and action. The entire organ is located in a chamber, separated by a grille from the living area. The swell box and shutters are built into the chamber itself. Only the original keyboards, around half of the pipework and the blower were retained.12 Three of the original Swell stops survived as independent ranks, but the remainder was reduced to three extended ranks spread over the Great and Pedal organs:
Swell pipework
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2013)]
Great pipework
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2013)]
Pedal Bourdon
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2013)]
| GREAT Bourdon Open Diapason Stopped Diapason Dulciana Principal Flute Salicet Dulciana Twelfth Flautina SWELL Lieblich Gedackt Salicional Gemshorn PEDAL Sub Bass Principal Bass Flute Fifteenth COUPLERS Swell to Pedal Swell to Great Swell Super Swell Sub Swell Super to Great Swell Sub to Great |
16 8 8 8 4 4 4 2-2/3 2 8 8 4 16 8 8 4 |
B A B C A B C C B B A B A |
[c.1922] [c.1922] [c.1922] [top 12 notes, original Principal 4ft, c.1922] [? top 12 notes, original Claribel Flute 4ft, c.1922] [top 12 notes, original Fifteenth 2ft, c.1922] [c.1922] [c.1922] [c.1922] [c.1922] |
Direct electric action
Radiating concave pedalboard
Compass: 61/30
Stop-key console.13
Console details, including original keyboards (c.1922)
[Photographs by Geoffrey Cox (January 2013)]
1 Personal communication to G. Cox from Mr J.H. Whitehouse, c.1974.
2 Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1922-1940), pp. 113, 114, 567.
3 Family & Teleradio (11 September 1941), p. 59.
4 Australasian Phonograph Monthly and Music Trade Review (2 July 1928), p. 28.
5 The Brisbane Courier (14 November 1942), p. 5.
6 Family & Teleradio (11 September 1941), p. 59.
7 Richard Bardon, The Centenary History of The Presbyterian Church of Queensland (Brisbane: W. R. Smith & Paterson, 1949), p. 233.
8 Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1940-54), p. 326.
9 Collected Organ Specifications of Bernie Brohan (c.1952); confirmed by Ray Smith (Sept 1974) and E.R. Salisbury (1974).
10 Collected Organ Specifications of Bernie Brohan (c.1952).
11 Personal communication to G. Cox from Ray Smith, January 2004.
12 Personal communication to G. Cox from Ray Smith, 1973.
13 Specification noted by G. Cox, December 1973.